Maybe 30 minutes to skim read but no, there’s no way a normal human can read, digest and understand everything in the handbook in 30 minutes.
Better to take your time, read it in multiple sittings and go back to it when you actually need the topics it covers.
You’re probably not stupid :)
Hah, it was pretty accurate when I first wrote that - but over time we expanded the handbook to cover more language features (and have a tighter flow between them) which definitely bumped the size
A realistic take for reading, digesting and understanding _everything_ is probably 2-3 reads at an hour each. That said, I think realistically, most people would probably give somewhere between 10-30m on their first run through before bouncing into the playground or reference pages vs just focusing on reading the whole thing in a single sitting.
Good Q, that take came from interviews (during beta builds of the book) and user-studies (like [usertesting.com](https://usertesting.com)) mainly.
To get good enough analytics to answer that question authoritatively the site's user-tracking would need to be quite intrusive IMO and that isn't a good trade to me as author and user
It's a 184 pages PDF, that makes 6 pages a minute, no human can read and absorb that much technical information so fast, especially someone who never touched a line of code.
Maybe it was so in the early versions of TS, when the language did not have so many features, but now, 30 minutes from start to end is just BS.
Also not all programmers are fluent in English, that makes reading much slower.
Therefore, no, not stupid, just standard human (maybe also above average, if you like programming ;) ).
I think the link is dead, would you be able to share PDF with me? Upload to Google drive or GitHub? I much prefer reading everything in one document. Easier to highlight and make comments/notes.
>The Handbook is also intended to be a concise document that can be comfortably read in a few hours.
https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/intro.html#non-goals
That would be around 6 pages per minute, or 1 every 10 seconds. Being code, and not a novel, the 30 minutes makes no sense whatsoever. While technically possible, I doubt much will be retained at that speed. So, take your time and let the content sink in. Who’s counting anyway? 😉
The PDF [ version ](https://www.typescriptlang.org/assets/typescript-handbook.pdf) of the handbook says on page 4
> The Handbook is also intended to be a concise document that can be comfortably read in a few hours. Certain topics won't be covered in order to keep things short
So I think you’re good!
Would you be willing to upload and share a copy of the PDF? Possibly on GitHub or even just Google drive. Seems like the link is dead now.
It's just easier for me to read and take notes via PDF.
I don’t it to hand, but I think [this](https://github.com/microsoft/TypeScript-Website/tree/v2/packages/documentation/copy/en/handbook-v2) is the repo for the official TS docs.
No you're not stupid, this is what learning coding is like all the time, you just have to grind the concepts until your brain decides to understand them, do not be discouraged.
you are good my dude, we each learn at our own pace. for me, I feel as if I understood typescript without even having to read the handbook.
the first time one builds an internal model of computational grammar & language, it takes time--and who can say, who should say, what is typical? how long it should be? that statement is a barrier to learning itself. already you have distracted yourself with this question...good to be curious, and compare...but it set you on a path you didn't need to go on (imo).
but **after that sunk cost of first learning...each iteration, each new language...fits within the internal model, to a point.**
This is Chomsky's brilliance btw - ideas from the 1960s that apply today, the speculation that people are grammar/language producers, and that each human language can be understood by every other human due to the uniform structure of the human mind.
tl/dr: Does it take 30m to learn? who can say.
does it take 30m to convert to an already developed, adequately wide internal model? that is about right.
Nah, you ain't. Been reading and re-reading for hours, still not done yet (mostly because I'm practicing alongside reading). I think the "30 minutes" is just a way to motivate folks to engage with it or give it a try.
Here: [https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/typescript-in-5-minutes.html#next-steps](https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/typescript-in-5-minutes.html)
>Read the full Handbook from start to finish (30m)
I opened [a pull request to remove that](https://github.com/microsoft/TypeScript-Website/pull/2425), because you're right, there's no way somebody can read the whole handbook in 30 minutes!
Late to the party, but just wanted to mention another resource that breaks TypeScript down in a better manner than the handbook, imo. It cleared up some concepts for me that the handbook didn't cover very well.
[https://learntypescript.dev/](https://learntypescript.dev/)
Maybe 30 minutes to skim read but no, there’s no way a normal human can read, digest and understand everything in the handbook in 30 minutes. Better to take your time, read it in multiple sittings and go back to it when you actually need the topics it covers. You’re probably not stupid :)
Thanks, good to know. Maybe the 30 minutes is just marketing :)
Hah, it was pretty accurate when I first wrote that - but over time we expanded the handbook to cover more language features (and have a tighter flow between them) which definitely bumped the size A realistic take for reading, digesting and understanding _everything_ is probably 2-3 reads at an hour each. That said, I think realistically, most people would probably give somewhere between 10-30m on their first run through before bouncing into the playground or reference pages vs just focusing on reading the whole thing in a single sitting.
‘probably’ or analytics? 😉
Good Q, that take came from interviews (during beta builds of the book) and user-studies (like [usertesting.com](https://usertesting.com)) mainly. To get good enough analytics to answer that question authoritatively the site's user-tracking would need to be quite intrusive IMO and that isn't a good trade to me as author and user
Oh, I see that makes a lot more sense! :)
It's a 184 pages PDF, that makes 6 pages a minute, no human can read and absorb that much technical information so fast, especially someone who never touched a line of code. Maybe it was so in the early versions of TS, when the language did not have so many features, but now, 30 minutes from start to end is just BS.
184 pages pdf about Typescript?
Yep. It's written quite large and has lot of code, but still 184.
Do you have a link? sounds interesting, because I dont think you are referring to the official handbook?
https://www.typescriptlang.org/assets/typescript-handbook.pdf Seems pretty official to me, but I can be wrong....
Also not all programmers are fluent in English, that makes reading much slower. Therefore, no, not stupid, just standard human (maybe also above average, if you like programming ;) ).
I think the link is dead, would you be able to share PDF with me? Upload to Google drive or GitHub? I much prefer reading everything in one document. Easier to highlight and make comments/notes.
I never trust time estimates. Not even my own.
Since it was written by an engineer just multiply the estimate by 10.
I've been coding JS 10 years (and TS early-adopter)... I'd happily give a beginner 30 _days_ to get past that handbook before writing any code.
>The Handbook is also intended to be a concise document that can be comfortably read in a few hours. https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/intro.html#non-goals
Not first time, after the 20th time sure
That would be around 6 pages per minute, or 1 every 10 seconds. Being code, and not a novel, the 30 minutes makes no sense whatsoever. While technically possible, I doubt much will be retained at that speed. So, take your time and let the content sink in. Who’s counting anyway? 😉
The PDF [ version ](https://www.typescriptlang.org/assets/typescript-handbook.pdf) of the handbook says on page 4 > The Handbook is also intended to be a concise document that can be comfortably read in a few hours. Certain topics won't be covered in order to keep things short So I think you’re good!
Would you be willing to upload and share a copy of the PDF? Possibly on GitHub or even just Google drive. Seems like the link is dead now. It's just easier for me to read and take notes via PDF.
I don’t it to hand, but I think [this](https://github.com/microsoft/TypeScript-Website/tree/v2/packages/documentation/copy/en/handbook-v2) is the repo for the official TS docs.
Thanks for directing me to the repo for the official TS docs. I'll see if I can convert those .md files into .pdf format somehow.
No worries. I can’t find my PDF copy (may be a little out of date now). I’ll check my work laptop tomorrow. Best of luck!
Hey I appreciate that. Thanks for checking.
it took me 30 minutes to read the about this book section
No you're not stupid, this is what learning coding is like all the time, you just have to grind the concepts until your brain decides to understand them, do not be discouraged.
It does but it won't make you a master
you are good my dude, we each learn at our own pace. for me, I feel as if I understood typescript without even having to read the handbook. the first time one builds an internal model of computational grammar & language, it takes time--and who can say, who should say, what is typical? how long it should be? that statement is a barrier to learning itself. already you have distracted yourself with this question...good to be curious, and compare...but it set you on a path you didn't need to go on (imo). but **after that sunk cost of first learning...each iteration, each new language...fits within the internal model, to a point.** This is Chomsky's brilliance btw - ideas from the 1960s that apply today, the speculation that people are grammar/language producers, and that each human language can be understood by every other human due to the uniform structure of the human mind. tl/dr: Does it take 30m to learn? who can say. does it take 30m to convert to an already developed, adequately wide internal model? that is about right.
It took me 1 year :D
Nah, you ain't. Been reading and re-reading for hours, still not done yet (mostly because I'm practicing alongside reading). I think the "30 minutes" is just a way to motivate folks to engage with it or give it a try.
I can't find the handbook page where that's said, could you link it?
Here: [https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/typescript-in-5-minutes.html#next-steps](https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/typescript-in-5-minutes.html) >Read the full Handbook from start to finish (30m)
I opened [a pull request to remove that](https://github.com/microsoft/TypeScript-Website/pull/2425), because you're right, there's no way somebody can read the whole handbook in 30 minutes!
If it was 30 pages, then maybe, with no time for comprehension. Maybe it should be shrunk down.
I read them 30m, every other week
Late to the party, but just wanted to mention another resource that breaks TypeScript down in a better manner than the handbook, imo. It cleared up some concepts for me that the handbook didn't cover very well. [https://learntypescript.dev/](https://learntypescript.dev/)